Autoclaves are pressure vessels that process materials using high temperatures and pressures. Novel out-of-autoclave (OOA) technology promises major savings in cost and time of repairing large composite parts, and uses much less energy.
Aerospace manufacturers are increasingly turning to OOA systems to cure composite parts mainly because they are cheaper to buy and operate compared to traditional autoclave systems. So far, they have been widely using resistance heating blankets to conduct heat to the repair area by using one or two spots for temperature measurement. Although this method provides good results for small repairs, large temperature discrepancies – cold and hot spots – are frequently observed when larger areas need to be heated.
Further details: New technology streamlines composite repair